10 Boyhood Man Utd Fans The Club Should Have Signed

"I don't care how much it is. You are getting a player for ten years. Him (John Stones) and Raphael Varane are the best in the world. The team starts at the back. Your platform for winning titles starts in defence. If Stones goes to another English club they will regret it." - Rio Ferdinand, January 2016.

Linked with a big-money move to Manchester United in the summer of 2011, Raphael Varane was all set to complete a lifelong dream of signing for his boyhood heroes. Having idolised Rio Ferdinand as a youngster, the Frenchman spent his childhood worshipping those who strutted their stuff on the hallowed turf at the Theatre of Dreams.

With the Red Devils on the hunt for some new defenders, the jigsaw pieces were falling into place for Varane to realise his dream. Quite how Man United instead ended up with Phil Jones is anybody’s guess. Despite missing out on the Real Madrid starlet five years ago, they have continued to be linked with him in an on-off saga for the last half-decade.

With Jose Mourinho, the man who gave Varane his big break at the Bernabeu, having taken the reins at Old Trafford, speculation has increased tenfold.